In this inspiring essay, Mark McKenna pushes the debate about Australian history beyond the familiar polarities. Australia is on the brink of momentous change, but only if its citizens and politicians can come to new terms with the past. Indigenous recognition and a new push for a republic await action.

Judging by the Captain Cook statue controversy, though, our debates about the past have never been more fruitless. Is there a way beyond the history wars that began under John Howard? And in an age of free-floating fears about the global, digital future, is history any longer relevant, let alone equal to the task of grounding the nation?

Mark McKenna is one of Australia’s leading historians. A research fellow in History at the University of Sydney, he is the author of several prize-winning books including Looking for Blackfellas’ Point: an Australian History of Place, An Eye for Eternity and From The Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories. His essays and articles have been widely published in Australia and overseas.